Tomato Sauce Day

Every September it's harvest time at the Karipidis Home. When we were kids my parents use to harvest all kinds of yummy things such as Roasted Red Peppers, Pickled Vegetables and Tomato Sauce. I suppose for my parents is was a way to spend time with the family because for 3 weekends in September we would gather in the backyard and pitch in to get the job done. I fondly remember my Mom's stuffed pickled Cubanelle Peppers. She would grate cabbage, carrots and celery which then was stuffed into these tender Cubanelle Peppers. Each jar would fit 4 to 5 of these stuffed lovelies. Her pickling concoction was simple, boiled salt water with vinegar and loads of garlic. The Roasted Red Peppers were the most painstaking because after being barbecued, they had to sweat out in plastic bags and then their charred skin had to be peeled off very carefully not to damage the succulent flesh. After the delicate operation, the red peppers were placed in ZipLock bags before being stored in the freezer. Since the harvesting of the red peppers was the most tiring, my Mother only took them out to be consumed on special occasions. Thankfully, we never had to wait to long to dig into the sweet yumminess of the peppers because Thanksgiving was only a couple of weeks away. Now, the only item we harvest is the tomato sauce.